The first year in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League was a bit of a struggle for the Lincoln girls soccer team.

Promoted from the West Valley Division for the 2015-16 season, the Lions, under first-year head coach Dave Meyer, stumbled to a 4-10 record and a sixth-place finish.

“The girls had to deal with a higher level of competition and a new coach,” said Meyer, looking back on last year. “More importantly, they had to deal with an entirely new system of play. So last season was a big adjustment for them. This year, they knew what to expect and had a year of experience with the new system.”

The result has been a pronounced turnaround for the Lions, who find themselves solidly in third place this season with a real shot at making the Central Coast Section playoffs.

“I feel the team is ahead of my exceptions for this season,” said Meyer. “We are much stronger and competitive than I was hoping for this year. We have an outstanding group of players that have made a serious commitment to the program, and I feel like we are definitely on the right track with a lot of upside potential.”

Lincoln, which has posted a 6-5-1 overall record so far this season after finishing 9-11 last year, underscored Meyer’s optimistic outlook last week by putting together its best performance of the current campaign, routing Silver Creek 6-1.

“Our league is so competitive that any win is great,” said Meyer. “But I was especially happy because this was as close to a complete game as we have had so far this season.”

Leading the Lions to their impressive win was junior April Lopez, who registered a three-goal hat trick, doubling her season’s total for goals in the process.

Sophomores Gianna Zades and Salma Montes and freshman Karen Romo chipped in with one goal each to account for the rest of the Lions’ scoring.

“We got off to a great start, scoring three times in the first 15 minutes,” noted Meyer, “and that set the tone for the whole match.”

“Our back line has been good this year, but our real strength is our midfielders,” added Meyer. “And I thought our three starters—Jackie Carrillo, Aimee Ramos and Zades—were especially good keeping Silver Creek from getting any momentum up the middle, and effectively shutting down their attack.”

The Lion defense was equally impressive last Friday against Del Mar. Unfortunately, the Del Mar defense was just that much better, enabling the Dons to claim a hard-earned 1-0 win over Lincoln.

“Del Mar came out ready to play, and their energy and pace, combined with some very good midfield play, put us on the defensive early,” said Meyer. “They seemed to be winning every 50-50 challenge and just played faster and better than us in the first half. The second half we woke up and played very well, but just could not quite get the equalizer player their goalkeeper. They did just enough, defensively, in the second half to get the victory.”

The loss dropped the Lions into third place in the rugged Santa Teresa Division at 3-2-1.

Lincoln, after taking on Pioneer this week, will play host to Prospect on Friday at 5:30 p.m.

Over in the BVAL’s Mt. Hamilton Division, Willow Glen suffered its first two league losses and slipped into fifth place.

The Rams opened the week with a 3-2 loss to first-place Leigh (4-0-1).

Sophomores Lia Mowery and Maritza Gonzalez accounted for Willow Glen’s goals in the loss, with assists going to Gonzalez and Audrey Carr.

The Rams were then nudged 2-1 by the Branham Bruins, leaving them with a 1-2-3 record in BVAL play. Carr scored the Rams’ lone goal, her first of the year.

The Rams, who are 6-2-5 overall this season under head coach Fabian Garza, had a match with Leland earlier this week and visits Piedmont Hills Friday at 5:30 p.m.

In boys action, Lincoln remained on course to have the opportunity to defend its 2016 CCS Division I championship after posting wins over Santa Teresa and Leigh last week.

The Lions, who moved to 3-1-3 in the BVAL’s Mt. Hamilton Division, clipped the Saints 2-1 and disposed of the Longhorns 3-1.

Lincoln, which is 5-3-4 overall this season, hosts Branham on Jan 30 at 5:30 p.m. after having played Willow Glen and Prospect earlier this week.

Willow Glen, meanwhile, remained winless on the year, getting shut out by both Branham (1-0) and Prospect (3-0).

The Rams fell to 0-5-1 in the BVAL’s Mt. Hamilton Division and 0-9-3 overall.

Willow Glen, which was to have played Lincoln and Santa Teresa last week, travels to Leigh on Jan. 30 for a 5:30 p.m. clash with the Longhorns.